Making "Greetings" Interesting

Photographs that reveal different meanings or scenes when flipped

──Why did you make "greetings" more interesting?

Matsunaga: I wanted to create a two-dimensional expression only possible as an art director. I aimed for things that become interesting with a slight tweak—like flipping a photo to reveal a different meaning or scene. Since Dentsu Inc. News readers are mostly businesspeople, I thought about capturing businesspeople in a way that looks interesting. That led me to shoot with "greetings" as the theme.

──The people are reflected on the water surface. How did you shoot that?

Matsunaga: Finding the right location was tough. If the water surface was rippled, the reflection wouldn't come out well, so I searched for a spot with still water, but it was hard to find. For example, there were ducks swimming, fountains, or on the day of shooting, there was trouble with bubbles floating on the pond... We shot from a floating island in the pond. To get to the floating island, there were stones placed about a meter apart, so I jumped from one to the next (laughs).

My phone feels pointless while moving

──Tell us about something or someone you're interested in right now.

Matsunaga: I love photography. Recently, I went all the way to Osaka to see Wolfgang Tillmans' photo exhibition. It was his first show in Japan in 11 years, and it was amazing! I kept wondering how he comes up with such unique ways to frame his shots. I went with Yuko Nakajima, the photographer who shot this ArounD30 feature. It was fascinating seeing how a photographer's perspective differs from an art director's. Besides photography, I try to find time to watch movies and read books.

──What kind of works are those?

Matsunaga: I felt a sense of urgency that I might not know many of the great masterpieces from the past. So, I decided to watch more classic films and have been watching Hitchcock lately. I was also invited to participate in an interesting project introducing films called "Cinema Genius." As for reading, I used to spend a lot of time on my phone while commuting, but I started feeling that instant, shallow knowledge felt incredibly meaningless, so I switched to reading books.

── (Looking at the book pulled from his bag) Wow! It's covered in sticky notes.

Matsunaga: This is "All Work is Creative Direction" by Hiroya Furukawa of Dentsu Inc. Reading it, I often think, "Ah, so that's how it is." Gaining new knowledge is fascinating. Lately, I'm reading "The Lucifer Effect," a famous book about social experiments. Reading books really makes me realize how much I still don't know. I want to keep absorbing new perspectives and knowledge that aren't already inside me.

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"Making 'Greetings' Interesting"
Art Director/Designer Miharu Matsunaga
Photographer: Yuko Nakajima
Production Support: Hayato Satomi & Ikuko Hirata